Escape v2
by Blaze53
Summary: Yugi has feelings for Tea, but he's afraid to tell her. Will her shocking news force him to confess? A rewrite of Danachii's original story, "Escape", which was inspired by Enrique Iglesias' song of the same name. See Author's notes for details.
1. Author's Note

Author's Notes and  
Other Important Crap  
(Read: Rant ahead, but please read)

RIGHT THEN. So I remember reading the original way back when. It was pretty good, decent storyline. Except for the fact that the spelling was bad, grammar was terrible, and plot holes were everywhere. And there was stuff that just didn't make sense.

Now, I found myself compelled to find this again... mostly because I thought it was as good as I remember, and, well, no. Here's where it gets _fun_. I was bored. It was 2AM on a Tuesday and I was suffering from insomnia from hell. This right here, this first chapter that I wrote, is the result of, oh, 45 minutes. Now, I ask of you, please don't call me a thief. I did contact Danachii, though I haven't gotten a response for a couple of weeks. As of now I'm throwing this up as an experiment to see how well it turns out. If I spark some kind of backlash against myself or I've broken terms of use, I will gladly take this down. As I said, experiment. Just wanna make a good story better with the English skills that I never use.

Please enjoy the fic, review, and let me know what you think. Who knows? Maybe I'll put up the rest of the chapters. If you want to find the original, just look up 'Escape' in the Yu-Gi-Oh! category. It's a one word title, and I've already given you the author's name, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.


	2. Chapter 1

_Here's... how it goes._

Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Bakura were headed to lunch from the Game Shop. Tea wasn't with them; she had said she had more important things to do that day. This puzzled Yugi, since he figured that the most important thing to her was her friends. On the way they passed a girl, and it took Yugi a moment to realize it was Tea. _Where's she going?_ Yugi thought. "Hey, Joey, I think that was Tea," he said.

"Yeah? I wonder what's she's up to. Wanna go find out?" said Joey.

"Yeah. Looks like she's going home."

Joey turned the car around and followed Tea back. They were several minutes behind her when they pulled up to her driveway. As they got out they could hear her talking excitedly with her parents. Yugi noticed she was holding an envelope in her hand as she turned to acknowledge them.

"Hey, guys! You'll never guess the amazing news I just got!" she said. Before anyone could answer, she said, "I got accepted into a ballet school in New York!"

_You and me.  
Up and down, but maybe,  
This time, we'll get it right._

"That's great, Tea! Looks like you'll finally be able to live your dream!" Tristan exclaimed.

"Yeah, what he said!" said Joey. Tristan glared at him.

"That's marvelous, Tea. Congratulations!" said Bakura.

Yugi just stood there, in shock. He didn't realize right away that his mouth was open.

"And I bet Yugi here's really happy for you as well," Joey said, poking him in the ribs. "Ain't that right, Yug'?"

Yugi shied away from him. "Ow. Yeah. That's great, Tea. Really great. I'm happy for you." He forced happiness he did not feel into his voice.

_Worth a fight,  
'Cause love is something  
You can shake.  
When it breaks,  
All it takes is some trying._

The next day the gang met Tea at the airport. Everyone else seemed happy, but Yugi had never felt so upset. He didn't want her to leave. When they found her at the airport, she was wearing a long blue coat and had a massive suitcase in tow. Bakura took it for her. There was only a half hour left before her plane was scheduled to leave.

Tea gave Bakura, Joey, and Tristan each a hug and a kiss on the cheek, each of them blushing in turn. She turned to Yugi and said, "Well, I guess... I guess this is goodbye."

Yugi didn't say anything. His gaze was locked at his feet, his eyes hidden by his bangs. When he looked up, he had tears running down his cheeks. He spun and ran away from the group, shouting, "I don't want this to be goodbye!"

_If you feel like leaving,  
I'm not gonna beg you to stay.  
But soon, you'll be finding,  
You can run, you can hide  
But you can't escape my love_.

Yugi ran until he was outside the terminal. It had started raining. He stood outside in the rain, crying silently as his mind raced. He felt like the most important person in his life was leaving for good. Two years was an eternity. Yugi thought back, remembering all the times Tea had been there with him, _for_ him, always cheering him on and telling him she'd be his friend no matter what. He remembered when she stood up to Mai Valentine in Duelist Kingdom and dueled her for the starchips needed to get into Pegasus' castle. That memory would always stay with him, no matter what he did.

_So, if you go,  
You should know,  
It's hard to just forget the past,  
So fast.  
It was good, it was bad  
But it was real and that's  
All you have.  
In the end, our love mattered._

Joey came running out of the airport and came up beside Yugi and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Yug'. Come back inside. Tea wants to say goodbye before-"

Yugi swatted his hand away and turned to glare at him. "Why does she have to leave?" he cried. "I don't want her to leave! I want her to be here, with us... with me."

"Well... Maybe you should go tell her that. Tell her what you're really feeling, man."

"But... What if it just blows up in my face? What if I end up just destroying our friendship?"

"Ahh, Yug'." Joey shook his head. "You know she wouldn't do that." He held up his right hand. "Remember, man. Friends forever. Now c'mon. Go in there and tell her how you feel before it's too late. And I really wanna get inside. It's frickin' freezing out here."

Yugi grinned and wiped his eyes. He looked over and saw Tristan and Bakura standing in the entrance. The two started walking back inside. "Y'know, I never expected you to be so deep with this sort of thing, Joey."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't go spreadin' it around, all right? I got a reputation to protect, ya know?"

_If you feel like leaving,  
I'm not gonna beg you to stay.  
But soon, you'll be finding  
You can run, you can hide  
But you can't escape my love._

They found Tea sitting in one of the chairs just outside the gate, looking worried. Her expression brightened a little when she saw Yugi coming back. "Yugi! What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, now, Tea," he replied. He took the seat next to hers and motioned for her to sit down. "There's just... something I need to tell you before you go."

Tea blinked. "Okay, I'm listening."

Yugi took a deep breath. "Tea... I... damn it, why is this so hard to say?" He took another breath. "Tea, I love you. I love how you've always been there for me, how you've always been at my side and cheering me on when things look their bleakest." Yugi glanced over at his friends, who were standing out of earshot. It seemed that Joey knew exactly what Yugi was telling Tea, however, and he made a rolling motion with his finger. Tristan and Bakura both looked at him curiously.

"I know that whatever I'm going to say now won't stop you from leaving. But I wanted you to know that I love you, with all of my heart. Even while we're thousands of miles apart and won't see each other for two years, I'll still love you."

_Here's,  
how it goes.  
All it takes,  
is some trying._

Tea blushed. "Yugi... I don't know what to say."

Yugi smiled. "Well, you could say, 'I love you too.'"

"Oh, Yugi, I do love you. I'm glad you finally told me before I left."

Yugi pulled her into a kiss. He held it, savored it, knowing that this would be the last time for two years.

Joey beamed. "Attaboy, Yugi!" he cheered.

Bakura smiled. "Well, it's about time," he told Tristan.

"I'll say!" said Tristan.

_"Final boarding call for outbound flight 4190 to New York City."_

_You can run, you can hide,  
But you can't escape my love.  
You can run, you can hide,  
But you can't escape my love._

Tea pulled away. Yugi could see her eyes watering. "I guess I'd better get going. I'll miss you," she said.

"I love you, Tea," said Yugi. "Now hurry up and get on, before they leave without you."

Tea walked to the gate. She stopped turned around and said, "'Bye, Yugi." She waved to the others. "'Bye, guys! I'll see you soon! I'll write to you all!"

"I'll hold you to that, Tea!" Tristan called.

Tea gave Yugi one final look of farewell, then disappeared into the boarding umbilical. Ten minutes later, Yugi and his friends stood at the window and watched the plane taxi onto the runway. Yugi was sad to watch Tea leave, but a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Yugi, look. It's accelerating," said Bakura. The plane started picking up speed, and eventually began to rise off the ground. They watched until the jet passed through the clouds. Yugi smiled to himself. He wasn't sad that she was gone, anymore. He had something to look forward to when she came home. He just needed to be patient.

Bakura put a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Are you okay, Yugi?"

Yugi wiped the tears he didn't remember crying from his face. "Yeah, I'm fine." He looked at Joey. "Thanks for your help, Joey. You were right."

Joey grinned and offered a thumbs-up. "No problem, Yug'."

Yugi turned back towards the window. He figured patience was a virtue he'd have to learn.


End file.
